American Consumers Facing Tough, Hard Times, Expert Says
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – US consumers are facing challenging times, with household spending expected to cool further, the chief executive of the financial advisory firm Longview Economics warned.
Speaking in an interview with CNBC, Chris Watling cited the latest economic indexes showing that consumers have been quickly running out of excess cash while household savings have been under increasing pressure.
“I think the American consumer is fundamentally walking towards a cliff ,” Watling added, RT reported.
“Of course, retail sales have been quite strong for the last few months, and everyone gets quite excited about that, but, really, if you look at what’s going on, the household savings ratio has been run down, and, in fact, real income growth has been negative for three months.”
He pointed out that the consumer and the labor markets are under a lot of severe pressure at the margins.
“We had a good payrolls month, but if you look at a lot of the indicators of where the labor market is likely to go, a lot of them are fraying at the edges,” he said.
The strategist went on to add that a substantial labor market downturn could invoke an economic recession in the country. “We’re going to get to the point in the next few months. I think the US is in for a tough and difficult time,” Watling warned.
